Acoustic analysis platform
RNS Acoustics handles some of the most technically demanding work in the field — yet the tools we rely on were never built for the way we actually work. Data lives in separate applications, analysis requires manual reformatting, and insights that should take minutes can take hours. Resolve is an internal acoustic analysis platform built specifically for RNS — consolidating sound level analysis, spectral work, transmission loss, environmental noise, room acoustics, monitoring, and more into a single, intelligent workspace. It is designed by the people who do the work, for the work we actually do — and built to grow as the practice grows.
Analysis engines
Each engine is purpose-built for a specific class of acoustic analysis. Most projects draw on more than one simultaneously.
Sound level
Waveform workbench with AI event intelligence
Accepts
Drag-and-drop load. Select any time region. Toggle A / C / Z weighting live. AI exclusion mode strips transient outliers to isolate true ambient. AI detection mode fingerprints a reference event and locates all recurrences. Includes distance decay and barrier insertion loss calculators.
Outputs
Spectral analysis
Frequency and time domain decomposition
Accepts
Third-octave band breakdowns. Spectrogram view with color-coded intensity. Compare multiple recordings in frequency domain or time domain — e.g. before vs after a treatment, source vs receiver room.
Outputs
Transmission loss
Partition performance and prediction
Accepts
Import measured field data alongside INSUL assembly predictions. Compare existing vs upgraded partition. Predict receiver-side levels — critical for CUP noise studies and tenant complaint work.
Outputs
Environmental / CNEL
Long-duration survey and community noise
Accepts
CNEL and Ldn calculation over full survey periods. Manual exclusion of selected regions. AI auto-flags transient events — producing defensible, documented ambient baselines.
Outputs
Room acoustics
Decay, intelligibility, and pre-calculation
Accepts
RT60 and EDT by frequency band. STI and %ALcons. SketchUp import reads room geometry and surface types automatically. Product database with absorption coefficients delivers good / better / best treatment recommendations before any simulation runs.
Outputs
Monitoring
Long-duration logging and event flagging
Accepts
Time-stamped level logging over days or weeks. Threshold-based event flagging. Supports concert and festival monitoring, construction noise compliance, and protected wildlife species monitoring.
Outputs
The problem
Every RNS project touches multiple tools, file formats, and manual steps that have nothing to do with the actual analysis. Time spent reformatting is time not spent analyzing. Inconsistency between projects creates risk in reporting. And institutional knowledge about how to do the work lives in people's heads rather than in a system.
Current workflow
NTi XL3 / Mezzo
Proprietary exports, multiple formats
Dewesoft DAQ
Separate software, separate files
INSUL
Assembly exports, manual data entry
Excel
Hand-built charts, no standard template
Word / various
Manual formatting, reformatting
Resolve replaces with
Unified import
Drag any file or folder — XL3, Mezzo, WAV, INSUL, SKP, and more
Single analysis environment
All engines in one place — no switching applications
Persistent project library
Every parameter, selection, and result saved and retrievable
Chart-ready outputs
Export directly to reporting — no reformatting required
Shared methodology
Any team member can pick up any project without a handoff meeting
A single noise complaint investigation currently pulls from multiple separate tools, none of which communicate. Every project asks the team to reinvent the same workflow from scratch.
The workflow
Resolve is built around the way a real project moves. Data comes in from the field in whatever format it arrives and gets analyzed in a single environment. No reformatting. No copy-paste between applications.
Step 1
Capture
Field data collected with existing instruments
Step 2
Import
Drag and drop to desktop app — auto-transferred to cloud
Step 3
Analyze
Select engine, set parameters — AI flags events
Step 4
Save
Full methodology preserved — retrievable by any team member
Step 5
Export
Chart-ready data and report-ready outputs
No handoff meetings. No lost context.
Because every parameter, selection, exclusion, and result is saved with the project, any team member can open it and see exactly what was done, how it was done, and where the data lives. If analysis needs to shift from one person to another mid-project, the methodology is already documented. The work doesn't live in one person's head.
AI advantage
Two of Resolve's core engines use AI-assisted event detection to do something no manual workflow can match at scale. One strips out what doesn't belong. The other finds exactly what you're looking for.
Exclusion mode
During community noise and CNEL surveys, Resolve automatically flags transient events and removes them from ambient calculations. Every exclusion is logged with a timestamp and reason.
Transients removed — clean baseline remains
Defensible, documented ambient level — every exclusion timestamped and logged
Accurate CNEL and Ldn values uncontaminated by pass-bys, horns, or anomalous events
Detection mode
When investigating intrusive noise, Resolve captures a reference event and identifies every recurrence throughout the recording based on spectral similarity. Hours of review becomes minutes.
Reference captured — recurrences located automatically
Capture one example of intrusive noise — Resolve finds every other instance in the file
Characterizes level and frequency content of events vs ambient floor — critical for tenant dispute and litigation work
Infrastructure
Resolve is a native application installable on both Mac and Windows, with a web-based interface for remote access. The analysis engine runs on a cloud-hosted VM — meaning every team member connects to the same platform and the same project library regardless of location. San Diego, Pittsburgh, Alabama, or New York — office or home, the experience is identical.
Mac + Win
Native desktop install on both platforms
$20–50/mo
Total hosting cost — not per seat, not per user
No VPN
Secure API access from anywhere with internet
Portable project files
Every project saves as a single file — parameters, selections, exclusions, and outputs included. Double-click to reopen from VM, local drive, or Synology.
Drag-and-drop import
Drop any file or folder onto the desktop app. Auto-transferred to the VM for processing — raw data never needs manual copying or reformatting.
Secure API access
No VPN required. The VM is accessible via authenticated API from any internet connection — office, home, or field.
Shared infrastructure
The same VM hosts both Resolve and the RNS Tracker database — consolidating two tools under a single $20–50/month total hosting cost.
Roadmap
Resolve is built in focused phases — each one delivering something the team can use before the next begins. The goal is a working tool in daily use as fast as possible, with expansion capability built in from the start.
Phase 1
Build
In developmentAll core analysis engines built and tested on real RNS projects. Prototype hosted on cloud VM.
Sound level analysis with AI event detection
Spectral analysis — third-octave, spectrogram, time and frequency domain
Transmission loss and partition prediction
Environmental noise and CNEL with AI exclusion
Room acoustics — RT60, STI, decay curves
Room acoustics pre-calculation — SketchUp import, product database, good/better/best treatment recommendations
Monitoring — long-duration logging and event flagging
Phase 2
Launch
Target milestoneStable deployment. Full team access from any location. Resolve becomes part of the standard RNS workflow.
Mac and Windows desktop app deployed to all team members
Web browser access for any device, any location
Cloud VM live — shared project library accessible to all
RNS Tracker database consolidated on same infrastructure
Active use on real projects — not a prototype, a tool
Phase 3
Expand
Additional modules added to an already-working platform. Phase 3 does not block launch.
Vibration analysis — Dewesoft import, VdB, frequency weighting
Enhanced chart and report export
Potential client-facing features
Phases 1 and 2 represent a fully launchable, daily-use platform. Phase 3 adds real capability — but it does not delay getting Resolve into the hands of the team. The tool ships before it is complete, because that is how good tools get built.
The ask
Resolve is an in-house build — meaning the primary investment is time and a single tooling subscription, not a software license or an outside contractor.
Claude Code subscription
~$100/mo
The AI-assisted development environment that makes this buildable by internal staff without a dedicated engineering team.
Front-loaded during active development — scales down to a maintenance tier once the core platform is built.
Protected development time
Weekly hours
A portion of weekly hours allocated to building and testing Resolve alongside active project work. No outside contractors. No lengthy procurement. Built by the people who use it.
Cloud VM hosting
$20–50/mo
Hosts both Resolve and the RNS Tracker database under a single infrastructure cost. Accessible by the full team from any location, no VPN required.
Total cost — not per seat, not per user.
The bottom line
Commercial acoustic analysis platforms with comparable capability cost thousands of dollars per seat, per year — and none of them are built for the way RNS works.
Resolve is.